Recommend a restaurant near CIA Cardiff please?

pavlovs_dog

forgot to add, if you are coming down by car on the day of the gig itself allow yourself plenty of time, the m4 and a4232 into cardiff can get very congested. couple this with construction work chaos and probable road closures due to the gig and you're facing possible delays.

i assume if you are coming by car that you'll be parking in the mariott multi storey, so thats one less thing for you to worry about.

with regards to the stadium itself, security here is every bit as stringent as at any other major stadium. you will not be allowed entry with bottles on your person, so dont waste money buying drinks only to have to throw them away. as you predicted, food prices inside are not very MSE, so make sure you're all fed and watered before you head in

ailuro2

No, we're not coming by car, 8 hours there and the same back is too long for an overnight stop for us!!

We're flying in to Cardiff airport, will have plenty of time so plan on getting a bus into the city, since the railway station looks a short walk from the Marriott.

The gig has been changed to Cardiff International Arena, which we are well chuffed about, a smaller indoor venue is perfect to hear REM at their finest.

I found Caroline street on the map!!:j Well within walking distance even if it's raining ...

Thanks everyone for you suggestions, what a friendly lot you are down there!

Might see some of you if you're at the REM gig.:D I'm the wee chubby woman in the T in the Park T shirt!! :rotfl:

tinkerbell84

The train station is very close to the Marriott.

Have a fantastic time :j

pavlovs_dog

i forgot about the change of venue! with the cia i recommend you either turn up stupidly early (like a groupie ), or fashionably late as they are quite slow at getting people into the venue, and its no fun standing around in the rain!!

ive just had a look at multimap and googlemaps, and the photo on them both predates the current construction work. if you find you cant walk down bridge st to get to the cia, you may be able to use the footpath that runs along the side of Habitat (hills st). at the end of that path (by debenhams) take a right down the side of the toilets and you should come out opposite cineworld (which faces the CIA). or, failing THAT! (i cant keep up with all the building work and what routes are open/closed :rotfl:) head to queen st (the main shopping street). turn right between burger king and marks and spencers onto charles st. this will lead to bridge st (behind the bit i suspect may be blocked if you were to come from the direction of the mariott). the CIA is easily accessible from there...chances are you can jst follow the crowds

hope that helps/makes sense

ailuro2

Looks like we'll be fashionably late by the time we find our way round the construction works.:o

Thanks for the info, I'll print off a wee map and take it with me in case there's any closures - hubby has a good sense of direction, but I'm pretty bad, better safe than sorry, eh?

Beamish

Another nice restaurant is Portos, its portuguese and great for lunches.
Its on St Mary St, at the bottom end (Caroline St end just round the corner on the right) by the traffic lights, I'm sorry I cant give more def instructions but the Station is in chaos due to refit and not sure if your bus will stop off there, some buses have been rerouted to stop near the station, if you do end up at a different stop dont forget to ask the bus driver what road you are on so that you can give yourselves a land mark!

If you have a little time to sightsee the Castle is at top end of St Mary Street and the Millenium Stadium is on Westgate Street, all within a short walking distance of where you want to eat.

Have a great time and hope you enjoy Cardiff

Beem

Enjoy your trip from the airport into cardiff it will take about 1 hour.

pavlovs_dog

from what i can gather most buses coming into the city from the vale of glamorgan direction (barry (including cardiff international airport), sully, dinas powys and penarth) will still stop at wood st as before. those coming from the cardiff direction now seem to stop on westgate st rather than returning to the station like they used to

ailuro2

I'll ask at the airport which buses will take us there - and blag a free map off them while I'm at it! :money:

ailuro2

We're back!

so, what did we learn?

The bus into Cardiff costs £3.60 single each way, the train costs £3.00 single with a free shuttle bus to the airport from the station.

We went to Chippy Lane, but into the little food courtyard where Nando's is, and had a smoked meat sandwich meal in Desperadoes - that was absolutely fantastic, probably the best piece of chicken I've ever tasted - it was really juicy, couldn't believe how nice it was - a whole chicken breast (Dh had the ham- 'real' ham taken off the bone) cut up and put in a bun, side salad too, for £3.95, or with two sides (fries/onion ringss etc) £6.95. So we got one meal and one sandwich and shared the sides, however the girl only charged us for two sandwiches! So for two Corona beers, a large wine and our food, the bill was less than £18. Well pleased!

We ended up in the Great Western bar for an after concert beer or two with a few lads from the Rhondda valley - hope I spelled that right!

R.E.M. did a fantastic gig - played fan based set instead of to the crowd like they sometimes do, never heard them do Sweetness Follows or Country Feedback before

Back to work today - it's going to be a long day - I don't think we're cut out for life on the road- I'd happily go back to my bed right now and it's only just after 7am!!:o

pavlovs_dog

thanks for updating, i see so many of these threads where you are forever left to wonder how people got on. glad to hear you had a good time. cheers for the desperadoes recommendation, will have to check them out - the food sounds lush :drool: